The global shutdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic continue to wreak havoc in economic forecasting.
Pandemic lockdowns are easing and freight levels are increasing, but the COVID-19 virus is still out there, and it may take a while for the economy to recover. What does the future hold for our country’s economy and the trucking industry?
With all 50 states relaxing COVID-19 shutdown orders to various extents, trucking shipments and rates are heading back up – but don't expect a true recovery until 2021.
How will reopening impact truckload demand and freight rates in the near future? What will freight rates look like in the next six to 12 months? This video from Convoy explores those questions.
More than 88,000 jobs disappeared in the truck transportation sector in April, a 5.8% drop from March, both the steepest drops on record – part of a record-setting 20.5 million job loss across the country, as the nation’s unemployment rate rose to 14.7%.
As stay-at-home orders in response to the COVID-19 pandemic took hold across much of the country in the latter part of March, the level of freight available – and the rates to haul it – plummeted. This means many of the smallest companies that make up the vast majority of motor carriers are seriously hurting.
According to FTR’s projections for its Trucking Conditions Index, a combination of drastic declines in freight volumes, utilization, and rates due to the COVID-19 pandemic could lead to the worst overall trucking conditions on record during the second quarter of this year.
While COVID-19 related demand boosted freight volume and spot freight in the first part of March, the latter part of the month saw a reversal, and April is looking ugly.
The pressure to restock grocery stores and distribution centers stripped by COVID-19 buying has quickly given way to a slump for truck freight. As March segued into April, the spot market took a tumble, according to figures from DAT Solutions and Truckstop.com.
Class 8 truck orders plummeted in March to their lowest readings in a decade, at a level half of what it was a year ago, according to preliminary numbers from FTR and ACT.